With regards to dealing with figures of authority, the best move is to always as for a supervisor. “i said so” is never a viable reason to ask someone to do anything, in almost all situations. anyway, just some free, un-asked for advice. Enjoy.

@ClayS: Come visit New York. Take a walking tour of my ‘hood in Brooklyn. Ride the subways. You will see many, many people with hoods up at all times. You will even see some people wearing a hood over a worn baseball cap. Trust me, it happens.

@Beerad: I’ll take your word for it. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, but that was several fashions ago, so I missed it. Around here, in suburban New Jersey, its hoodies with the hoods down. Haircuts are too expensive to not let them show.

A store is private property and the owner has invited people on it to shop. The courts have generally held that owner still can control who goes on their land. So yeah, it is probably legal for them to ask you to remove your hoodie.